According to 3 three separate studies, an average of 59% of all online shopping carts are abandoned.

Trust has been built, desire amplified, ethical urgency added - but in the end, over half of all prospects bail at check-out. Some just aren't ready to move forward with a purchase, but many bail due to frustrations in the shopping cart itself.

If all of your shopping cart frustrations are addressed, your website has the potential to double its conversion just by perfecting your shopping cart alone.

Recommendations to lift the conversions in your checkout process:

• Remove distractions from primary goal (Evaluate)

The only options you should be giving potential customers in the checkout process are to complete the transaction and a link to 'continue shopping'. Anything else in the checkout area distracts and potentially pulls your visitor away from the primary goal.

• Make guest checkout a prominent option (Evaluate)

User studies have shown shoppers become very agitated when they are required to create an account to make a purchase. Some just want to make a quick purchase without any commitment. Others get frustrated when they return and can't remember the email address they used to login.

One major ecommerce site gained a 50% lift in conversion - resulting in a $300,000,000 increase in annual revenue - just by changing one button and offering guest checkout as the primary option.

• State the number of steps in the checkout process (Evaluate)

When visitors are entering information during your checkout process, they may begin to feel that the process is taking too long and wonder how much longer it will take. If you clearly state the number of steps that exist - as well as where they are at in each step of the process - your visitor's anxiety will be reduced knowing there is not much more to fill out.

Studies have shown that people have a tendancy to gain satisfaction out of completing tasks. By defining the steps throughout the shopping cart process your visitors will feel that they are completing tasks.

• Remove fields to streamline the checkout process (Evaluate)

A barrage of form fields can be intimidating to your visitors. Extra steps - means the possibility of added frustration - and a higher risk of shopping cart abandonment.

Where possible, remove form fields that are not necessary.

• Add visual security indicators (Evaluate)

Visitors really start to question a website's security right around the point where they have to enter their credit card information. Use images and formatting to reassure your visitors that your checkout process is secure.

The Baymard Institute shows a good example of how this is done.

Source: http://baymard.com/blog/visually-reinforce-sensitive-fields